Call of Duty: Ghosts Producer Laments Increasing Cost of Game Development

The further we delve into video game development, the more expensive the projects become. At least, that’s how the system works when dealing with big, AAA titles. It takes hundreds of millions of dollars to ship a game like Grand Theft Auto 5, and according to Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin, that’s “kind of a bummer.”

"It's a scary thing, and I'll take my Call of Duty hat off for a second here, but games are becoming harder to make and more expensive to make. And I feel like smaller studios are having trouble,” Rubin told Game Informer in a new interview. “I can't speak for them, but I would think they are having trouble making big games that hit the big AAA market because they're harder to do.

“It is kind of a bummer that games are getting so hard and difficult to make. People want better and better graphics, they want more realistic looking art assets, and that comes at a cost and that's a hard thing to have to deal with."

Even the makers of Call of Duty see the difficulties of a more expensive development cycle. But what’s most unfortunate in Rubin’s eyes is the troubles the smaller companies face.

"It makes it more difficult for us, so I know it's more difficult for other people as well,” he continued. “The big companies can manage that; we can cover our costs if the costs go up; other studios may not be able to.”

Games like GTA 5 can make $1 billion dollars in a matter of days, but sadly, that’s the exception to the rule.